by Lauren Wood
“To our Isabella,” Kate added, lifting her glass as well. “Who found true love, but more importantly…found herself.”
“To Izzy!” the others shouted, gathering in a circle so we could all clink our glasses in the center.
I gave them the full tour of the house and felt giddy over the way they gushed about Dawson and the gardens and the cottage. At every turn, they were oohing and aahing, making no mistake about how impressed they were—even if it was all a little strange to them.
Maybe they felt the same way Jack did, who was more skeptical about it all than anyone. While he had his doubts and worries, he saw me transform. Maybe it was like Dawson said before—I bloomed in his hands, just like he wanted.
As I showed the ladies out onto the patio so they could take their seats for dinner, another knock came to the door. The guests kept filing in until we had a real party going. Among the guests were my brother, his wife, my toddler nephew, and their new baby. But perhaps the most surprising guest of all was Dawson’s brother—Richard. It was awkward to say the least to navigate a new kind of relationship with him. But Dawson decided he didn’t want to be completely cut off from some parts of his family, and the two eventually learned to get along.
As we all sat down to eat, Dawson and I held hands under the table and smiled at each other. It was a perfect night in our new home, and we had never been happier. Everyone else faded away for a moment as he leaned in to kiss me. No amount of money or fabulous parties or expensive dresses or country club memberships could ever compare to that feeling he inspired in me.
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The Hot Mess (Sneak Peak)
Heartstring Dating Agency Series
1
I tapped my pen on the corner of my desk, keeping the report in my hands positioned just so anyone walking by wouldn’t see the romance novel hidden behind it—the real focus of my attention. My family owned and operated Heartstring, a dating app. A romance novel wasn’t entirely unrelated to my job, right? Plus, I was on a deadline. My weekly book club meeting was happening after work, so I needed to get the book finished by then.
I reached for the coffee on the corner of my desk and brought it to my lips for a sip, promptly spitting it out when I realized it was yesterday’s coffee—cold and gross. I accidentally sprayed the pages of the book I needed to finish.
As I was trying to assess the damage, a reminder popped up on my computer. It was time for another meeting with my siblings—the Heartstring executives. I quickly blotted off the book the best I could and laid it out flat to dry before rushing off to the board room.
I don’t know why I bothered rushing. I was always the first one to arrive, followed by my older sister, Camille. Lucas would follow in behind her. Our other brother, Joshua, would straggle in last. But at least he showed at all, which was a big problem with him up until recently.
As predicted, Camille arrived three minutes after me, rushing in with her fresh coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other. Sometimes it amazed me that she could snag a hottie like her fiance, Mark Silver. She was more hopeless than I was in her tailored suits and thick-rimmed glasses. We were both gorgeous under all of our fashion dullness, though, something we inherited from our mother.
Lucas came in a few moments later, looking ready to get straight down to business as always. He sat at the head of the table, as our CEO, and started glancing impatiently at his watch every few seconds. Despite Joshua’s improved work performance and attendance, Lucas still watched him like a hawk, criticizing him for being even just a few minutes late. It must have been some sort of weird brother rivalry. Like they were constantly competing with each other, both wanting the other to succeed but also maybe secretly hoping they’d fail.
He sighed when Joshua finally did come in. Maybe because he had showed up right on the dot, so Lucas had no right to comment on tardiness.
“Now that we’re all here…” He jabbed at him anyway. “Let’s get started.”
“What’s on the docket for today?” Joshua smirked, ignoring Lucas’s critical tone.
“Something pretty important,” he announced. “I’ve been reviewing the numbers, and we’re getting into a position where we can start shuffling some people around.”
“Promotions?” Camille asked.
“For those who are interested.” He nodded. “I’m still working out the logistics and where I want everyone, but if any of you are looking for more on your plates, and in your pockets, now is the time to tell me.”
His words faded as I drifted off into a daydream about the book I had just been reading. It was a steamy office romance, and it was hard not to picture a scene where the main guy seduced his secretary right in the boardroom, just like the one I was sitting in.
I knew the promotions Lucas was talking about weren’t intended for me anyway. We all knew I wasn’t the type who did well with a lot of responsibility or pressure. And even if I was, they had the stronger personalities and the drive to go with them. It was no competition. If anyone was moving up, it’d be Camille and Joshua…not me.
The meeting went by in a flash, and no one seemed to care that I wasn’t more interested or engaged. Joshua and I were similar in the sense that we seemed to be of little consequence to the success and function of the company. The only difference was that I was smart enough to show up and look busy. For the longest time, he didn’t even bother with that much.
Finally, it was five o’clock, which meant I was free to rush off to my book club. I slipped my now coffee-stained book into my bag and headed out the door. It was springtime in the city, which meant the air was filled with the fragrant blooms of the trees. And it was just starting to get warm enough to not need a jacket if you were in the sun.
I watched the sunset over the tops of the buildings as I walked to my friend Jane’s house, just a few blocks from my office. She was an editor with an apartment that looked like the cover of one of her magazines. The only thing she loved more than interior design and pastel florals was romance novels—a shared love between us.
She answered her door with the book still in hand and her reading glasses perched on her nose. “Oh hi, Jada! Come in, come in. I was just finalizing my notes for the meeting this evening. You’re always the first one to arrive.”
I checked my watch just to ensure I wasn’t ridiculously early. In fact, I was right on time. So the problem was really more so that everyone else was always late. That was the kind of social etiquette I somehow managed to miss. I never got the memo that said the cool kids were always fashionably late.
Jane showed me into her Victorian-style sitting room with tea and cookies arranged on the coffee table. There were also the makings for cocktails sitting on the bar cart in the corner, but Jane was always nice enough to make tea since she knew I wasn’t a big drinker.
We talked about how our weeks were going until Lucy showed up. She was a dog groomer from the other side of town who looked closer to age fifteen than her actual twenty five. She was endearing and sweet, but could surprisingly drink anyone under the table.
“Where’s the vermouth?” she asked immediately. “I’m making us martinis.”
“Oh, no…Make something sweeter,” Jane suggested. “You know Jada will never drink a martini.”
My own idiosyncrasies were starting to get on my nerves. Always on time or early—the first to arrive. Reads and daydreams on the clock. Doesn’t drink martinis. But I smiled politely and let Jane play hostess as she wished.
“Cosmopolitans?” she asked.
Jane turned and watched for my approval.
“Now you’re talking,” I smiled tightly. I didn’t know why it mattered. I would only drink one.
Lucy followed Jane into the kitchen ju
st as Magda was arriving—a Swedish supermodel who didn’t look like she belonged in our little group. She had a Kate Moss smokey eye look that I would have sworn she was somehow born with, since you never saw her without it. She always wore tight little dresses and boots and baggy coats. She’d often interrupt discussions to go out onto the balcony and smoke cigarettes—another glamorous trait I was smart enough not to start. But sometimes when I watched her do it, I wished I had. It somehow added to her allure.
I pulled that night’s book out of my bag while the others filled their glasses and one for me since they always insisted on including me on every little thing whether I liked it or not. While they gossiped and chatted about their latest life updates, I trailed my thumbs along the heroine’s silhouette on the cover. She was so sassy and bold. Outspoken and daring. She wasn’t a smoker or a drinker, but she would dip her toes in either on the right night.
Maybe that was what I needed in my life, I thought. More flexibility. I needed to learn how to go with the flow.
I got so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t realized the discussion was well under way, and my glass was nearly empty. I had been taking mindless sips as I drifted off in my head.
That’s when everything changed. I decided to do a thing I never did.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I announced. “But could someone make me another one of these?”
Conversation came to a dead halt as everyone turned their heads, eying the empty glass I held up in the air.
“Of course!” Magda marveled, jumping to.
“You know if Jada is having two cocktails, it’s a real party.”
The worst part about poking your head out of your shell was everyone commenting on it, immediately making you feel less cool all over again.
But by my third cosmo, I could see why the ladies liked them so much…or any other cocktail they guzzled down. A warm fuzzy feeling settled in over my body, and I started to feel so much less…restricted.
The feeling puzzled me all through the night, following me home after our club meeting was over. I got to thinking…Why should you need to drink three cocktails to feel that way? To loosen up your inhibitions? Magda didn’t seem to need to drink to speak her mind. Lots of people seemed to have mastered the art of crawling out of their shells without needing alcohol as lubricant.
But lots of people lived with an ease that had eluded me, I remembered as I crawled into bed. Like the very thing I had spent half the day reading about, and the other half of the day thinking about. I turned on my pillow and reached for the vibrator in my drawer, but stopped myself.
Was it pathetic to be a twenty-five-year-old virgin who had grown bored with her vibrator? Her only tool for sexual release? Well, I supposed it wasn’t the only tool. I had my fingers after all, but somehow that seemed even more sad.
I shoved the drawer shut again and stared up at the ceiling with the covers draped over my chest. I felt a hunger inside that I couldn’t quite put words to, much less find a way to fulfill. How could you satisfy a need if you didn’t exactly know what the need was?
I rolled over in a huff, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew exactly what I needed, but it wasn’t just one thing. I didn’t need to read anymore romance novels or retire to another night with my battery-operated boyfriend.
No. I needed a real-life romance with a boyfriend who was all flesh and blood. I needed my siblings to actually notice me at work. I needed not to be the one who brought the whole room to a halt if I dared to have more than one cocktail or if I was, god forbid, five minutes late.
I, Jada Meadows, was in desperate need of a change. Or maybe a few hundred changes.
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Also by Lauren Wood
If you enjoyed Dating His Brother then you are in for a treat! See below for a list of boxsets that contain most of my books. All FREE on Kindle Unlimited!:)
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Halstead Billionaire Brothers: A Complete Series Romance Boxset(Book 1-4)
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Next Door Daddies: A Contemporary Romance Series Boxset(Book 1 - 4)
Second Chance Delight: A Contemporary Romance Series Boxset(Book 1 - 4)
The Hot Bad Boys: A Bad Boy Romance
The Complete Collection(Book 1 - 4)
Accidentally Met Him: An Accidental Marriage Romance Series Boxset(Book 1 - 4)
Mountain Man’s Fever: A Mountain Man Romance Series Boxset(Book 1 - 4)
First Love: My Best Friend’s Little Sister Romance Series Boxset(Book 1-4)
Billionaire Daddies: A Billionaire Romance Series Boxset(Book 1-4)
All Mine: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance Series Boxset(Book 1-5)
Be My Forever: A Billionaire and Virgin Romance Series Boxset(Book 1-4)
One Last Chance: A Second Chance Romance Series Boxset(Book 1-4)
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